David Goffin, the 5’11” No. 11 seed, will take on big-serving 6’11” goliath and No. 20 seed Ivo Karlovic for the first time on Saturday in the Australian Open third round.
Goffin cruised past 38-year-old qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-0, 6-3, converting seven of his 13 break point opportunities. The 37-year-old Karlovic struck 19 aces (now 94 for the tournament) in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Australian wild card Andrew Whittington to reach the third round for the third time (also 2008, 2012).
Eighth seed Dominic Thiem was made to work for his 6-2, 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-4 second-round victory against Jordan Thompson, the Australian wild card, on Thursday at Melbourne Park. The Austrian could not convert his first match point opportunity with Thompson serving at 5-6, 30/40 in the third set, and saw a 5/2 lead evaporate in the subsequent tie-break.
Thiem will next challenge Frenchman Benoit Paire, who hit 67 winners – including 21 aces – in a 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Italian Fabio Fognini in three hours and 28 minutes.
Elsewhere, No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who earned up his fifth ATP World Tour title at the Aircel Chennai Open in the first week of the 2017 season, hit 39 winners to overcome 20-year-old Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
Bautista Agut will now meet David Ferrer, the No. 21 seed and 2011, 2013 semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, who booked his place in the third round for the 11th time with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Ernesto Escobedo in two hours and 46 minutes. Ferrer leads 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series with victories in 2013 at Wimbledon and the US Open.